1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates generally to vascular grafts for surgical use and, more specifically, to a graft attachment assembly which may be easily and quickly assembled. The graft attachment assembly is particularly suited for vascular bypass surgical procedures.
2. Background of Related Art
Vascular grafts for use in surgical procedures for bypassing a section of a main artery to prepare the bypassed section of artery for surgical repair are well known and have taken a variety of different forms. Typically, vascular grafts include an inlet conduit to receive blood flow from an arterial source and an outlet conduit to deliver blood flow to a downstream location, e.g., same or different arteries, body organs, etc. A sealing device is positioned adjacent to each inlet and outlet conduit. Because of the nature of bypass procedures, it is important that a vascular graft be implantable in a relatively short period of time and that the vascular graft be properly attached to the vessels and adequately sealed at its inlet and outlet ends.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,712,551 to Rayhanabad discloses a vascular shunt having a tubular inlet conduit and a plurality of outlet branch portions. The inlet conduit is configured to be received within an upstream arterial lumen and includes a sealing mechanism in the form of an expandable collar. Each outlet branch portion is configured to be received within a downstream arterial lumen and also includes an expandable collar. An air supply source communicates with each collar via an air supply line to inflate the collar and move the inlet conduit and each of the outlet branch portions into sealing engagement with the inner walls of the arterial lumen. Although the expandable seals might be effective, the additional attachments required in the limited confines of a surgical site are undesirable.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,156,619 to Ehrenfeld also discloses a vascular graft having a straight portion, and a flange portion including a crotch region. The flange portion is in the shape of a continuous flow curve and includes a suturing surface. The vascular graft is attached to the aorta using hand applied sutures. Ehrenfeld's vascular graft still requires the time consuming and oftentimes difficult process of suturing.
Accordingly, a need exists for an improved vascular graft attachment apparatus that can be easily and quickly implanted, provides improved sealing, and can be easily and inexpensively manufactured.